Current Affairs : 01/09/2014 1. Nalanda University starts first session The ancient Nalanda University (NU) began its academic session on Monday in Rajgir in Bihar. More than 1,000 students from 40 countries have sought admission at the university. We will have a low-key launch with classes for School of Ecology and Environmental Studies and School of Historical Studies. Right now, there are 15 students and 11 faculty members at the campus, NU Vice-Chancellor Gopa Sabharwal told PTI. Sabharwal said there were two reasons for starting on a small note as she wanted the students and teachers to settle down. She said External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj would visit the campus on September 14. We have decided to have a big function when Mrs Swaraj visits NU on September 14. By that time things will settle down and the media glare will also decrease to some extent, Dr Sabharwal added. The university on Sunday completed the three-day orientation programme of the students. More than a 1,000 students from various countries across the globe had applied for the seven schools on different subjects that will function at the university, of which only 15, including one each from Japan and Bhutan, were selected, said the V-C. At the time when APJ Abdul Kalam mooted NU, Singapore government had also proposed revival of the university having international character, but suitable to the modern times. Former Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar also showed a keen interest in it and the work on the concept began soon after. The NU came into existence by the Nalanda University Act passed by Parliament. Economist Amartya Sen is the chairman of the Governing Body of the university, while renowned teachers from various countries are its members. Former Singapore foreign minister George Yeo and Ministry of External Affairs Secretary Anil Wadhwa are also part of the governing body. The NU campus will be spread over 455 acres and its construction is underway around 12 km from the site of the ancient university, which began during the Gupta period in 6th century AD and came to an end after being ransacked, looted and burnt in 1193 AD by the invading Turk army led by its commander Bakhtiyar Khilji. As the NU buildings are still under construction, the students and faculty members have been housed at Bihar State Tourism Development Corporation (BSTDC) owned Hotel Tathagat Vihar, the vice-chancellor said. A run-down government office near Rajgir bus stand has been renovated to serve as temporary campus. Classes will also be run at nearby International Convention Centre built by the Bihar government. Rajgir is the second most popular place for Buddhist pilgrims visiting Bihar after Bodh Gaya. NU has strived to have a global character and several countries already signing agreements and pitching in with funds. China contributed one million dollars in 2011, which will be used to establish a library at the campus, Dr Sabharwal said. The architectural plan of the NU has been approved and the extensive campus will also have a huge lake, and the proposed library will come up in the middle of it. Singapore, the prime foreign mover for the university has pledged around $5 million, while the Thailand Ambassador to India donated $1,00,000, the V-C said adding Australia would provide 1 million Australian dollars for a chair at the School of Ecology and Environment studies for three years. Apart from all the foreign contributions, the Central government has sanctioned Rs 2,700 crore for a period of 10 years. 2. PM Modis Japan visit: Creation of special management team for Japan under PMO announced TOKYO: Prime Minister Narendra Modi Monday announced the creation of a special management team exclusively for Japan under the PMO. Addressing business leaders here, Modi said: The new government wants to reform itself and move forward... We have decided that directly under the Prime Ministers Office (PMO), a special management team for Japan will be formed, which will be dedicated to exclusively facilitate Japan. Modis announcement was greeted with applause by business leaders from India and Japan. ...in the team which looks after industries, I want to add two people from Japan who can stay permanently with them and can understand things. They will be part of our decision making team and will help ease business for Japan, he said. Modi arrived in Kyoto Saturday and is on a five day visit to Japan. He is scheduled to hold summit-level talks with Prime Minister Abe later Monday. 3. Protesters storm Pakistan TV building in Islamabad, Pakistan army intervenes Pakistani protesters broke into the state-owned Pakistan Television headquarters in central Islamabad on Monday as they moved beyond the Secretariat area and headed towards the Prime Ministers House, the channel reported.The protesters, who seemed to have faced no security obstacles, also barged into PTVs control room, Dawn online reported. However, Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) leader Imran Khan said PTI protesters had not broken into the PTV building, and added that if PTI protesters were discovered inside, they would be kicked out from the party, reported IANS. I appeal to the protesters to refrain from any harmful activity within the area and also refrain from acts that would defame the party, Imran Khan said. Army troops have reached the PTV office and are beginning to secure the building. Earlier, Imran Khan congratulated the protesters for holding protests for the past 17 days and directed them to remain peaceful to avoid any violent clashes. Imran Khan also asked Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) chief Tahirul Qadri to direct his protesters to remain peaceful and non-violent. Protesters in Islamabad moved beyond the Secretariat area and headed towards the Prime Ministers House. At least five people were injured as police fired tear-gas, rubber bullets and resorted to baton-charge to prevent the protesters from moving any further. According to officials, a protester facing police resistance set ablaze a container placed on way to the Prime Ministers House. After being hit with shells and rubber bullets, the protesters also pelted the police with stones. Announcements from loudspeakers also warned the police against using force against demonstrators. The protests led by PTI chief Imran Khan and Qadri began Aug 15 in an attempt to topple Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, who is accused of rigging the 2013 general elections. The protests turned violent late Saturday and Sunday and as a result, at least eight people were reportedly killed with over 450 protesters injured. 4. DDA website crashes as 2014 housing scheme kicks off The Delhi Development Authoritys (DDA) 2014 housing scheme kicked off on Monday with over 25,000 flats on offer. However, the demand to own a prime piece of real estate in the Capital is so high that barely hours into the registration on Day 1, the DDA website crashed. This is for the first time that the registration can be done online, too, to ensure transparency in the process. The brochures are also available on the DDA website. This has ensured the heavy traffic to the site. DDAs systems department trying to rectify snag in the website after it crashed due to heavy traffic, a DDA official said. Registrations for a total of 25,034 flats opened and will go on till October 9. The draw will be held within 15 to 20 days after October 9 and possession will be given latest by March 2015. These flats - most of them single-bedroom units, popularly called LIG flats - are primarily located areas like Rohini, Dwarka and Narela. The housing scheme 2014 was officially launched by DDA Vice Chairman Balvinder Kumar and the sale of forms started earlier on Monday. 5. No talks with Pakistan till it stops terror: Rajnath Singh The Home Ministry on Monday dismissed reports that Rajnath Singh has plans to meet his Pakistani counterpart Nisar Ali Khan on the sidelines of the SAARC conference in Nepal later this month. The Home Ministers office said in a tweet that Singh was of the firm opinion that terror and talks cannot go together. Unless Pakistan stops terrorism and violence, no dialogue is possible, the Home Ministers office said. News reports published today that Rajnath Singh will meet his Pakistani counterpart on the sidelines of SAARC conference are incorrect and fabricated, a statement from the ministry said on Monday. Rajnath is scheduled to visit Nepal on September 18 and 19 to attend the SAARC Home Ministers conference. 6. WhatsApp may offer free voice calls soon If leaked reports are to be believed, mobile messaging service WhatsApp is set to launch a free voice calling feature for its 600 million active users. Recent changes in the interface of the app suggests the feature is coming soon. The leaked images of the upcoming user interface shows that the app has been enabled with other language translations which will be displayed at the time a person receives a call via WhatsApp, a report on thefusejoplin stated. The translation feature available in the latest version of WhatsApp has made it clear that the voice calling plug-in is on its way. While the voice calling feature is all set to be released on WhatsApp, there is no update if there is going to be a similar feature on Facebook, it added. Facebook-owned WhatsApp has witnessed a 15 per cent rise in its traffic since the acquisition. WhatsApp has crossed 50 million active users in India alone. recently, the company announced it has 600 million users globally. 7. Intels latest processors are its fastest ever for home users Are you a graphics designer and do you find your latest computer slow? May be you need to take a look at the new Haswell E processors Intel has just launched. Part of the Extreme series processors, the top-end Haswell E processor - Core i7 5960X - is the fastest chip Intel has released for home users. Though all this power comes at a rather steep price. The Core i7 5960X, which is the top end Haswell E processor, costs $999. But Core i7-5930K and Core i7-5820K, which are 6-core processor, costs $583 and $389, respectively. Core i7 5960X is also the first Intel processor for home users that has 8 physical cores. It supports hyper threading and hence can process 16 threads simultaneously. Until now, this kind of processing power was limited to Intel Xeon processors, which are meant to be used in workstations and servers. It has a base speed of 3GHz and a turbo speed of 3.5GHz. The Haswell E processors have to be used with X99 chipset, the worlds first motherboard platform to support DDR4 memory. For enthusiasts, gamers and content creators craving the ultimate in performance, Intels first client processor supporting 16 computing threads and new DDR4 memory will enable some of the fastest desktop systems ever seen. The new X99 chipset and robust overclocking capabilities will allow enthusiasts to tune their systems for maximum performance, an Intel spokesperson said. The Haswell E processor have been reviewed by several computer technology websites and the consensus is that they are astoundingly fast. For general desktop use, the 5960X is easily the fastest CPU weve ever tested, and its a healthy generational improvement over Ivy Bridge-E. This chips eight cores and 16 hardware threads really shine in heavily CPU-intensive applications that can make use of them -- things like video encoding, image processing, and compiling large software projects. No, this CPU is not cheap. If you do the right sort of work, though, the 5960X could be well worth the investment, because it burns through large jobs much faster than anything short of a Xeon-based workstation, Scott Wasson, the editor of Techreport, wrote in his review. Currently the new Haswell E processor are not available in India but it is expected that Intel will launch them here in the coming weeks. 8. Apple may sell smartwatch for $400 but not before 2015 The good folks at Recode, the website that first reported about Apples plan to launch a smartwatch on September 9, have managed to get more details about the mysterious new device. A report on Recode now says that Apple executives have discussed putting a $400 price tag on the watch. The price, however, is not yet final. And for right reasons. The device is not yet ready for the market and even though Apple plans to show the watch at its planned media event on September, the gadget will be available to consumers only in 2015. If the report turns out to be correct, it will mark a big change in how Apple introduces its products. The company is famous for keeping its products under extreme secrecy until they are ready for the prime time. Most of the Apple products are shown in public when they are launching in the market. In contrast companies like Google are famous for introducing products months ahead of their market launch. An example of this appriach is Google Glass, which was first shown in 2012 but is yet to be available widely. According to reports, Apples smartwatch will not only pair with an iPhone or iPad and allow users to do certain tasks that they currently do on a smartphone but will also come with an array of sensors that may monitor the physical activity and health of a user in real time. The Apple watch is expected to make generous use of HealthKit functionality found in iOS 8 and it is possible that by showing the device months ahead of the release, Apple may want to motivate developers and accessory makers to create add-ons and software for it. With Apple smartwatch almost confirmed, a number of other technology companies are rushing to announce their own watches. Though Samsung, Sony and LG already have several smartwatches in the market, they will unveil more - probably better designed and with more functionality - this week at IFA in Berlin. 9. REGULATOR: A look at recent rulings which can affect you BANKING - The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has allowed banks to open accounts of minors above 10 years. However, it has given them a free hand to fix limits in terms of age and amount up to which minors may be allowed to operate the deposit accounts. Banks are also free to decide what documents are required for the purpose. - The regulator has given a nod to the Bharat Bill Payment System to function as a tiered structure for operating a bill payment system in the country with a single brand image providing convenience of anytime anywhere bill payment to customers. CAPITAL MARKET - The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has allowed financial institutions not regulated by it to access the system of Sebi-registered KYC Registration Agencies (KRA) for undertaking KYC of their clients who engage them for financial services. - The regulator has increased the investment limit in government securities available to all for foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) by $5 billion to $25 billion and correspondingly reduced the amount available to long term FPIs from $10 billion to $5 billion within the overall limit of $30 billion. INSURANCE - The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (Irda) has asked all insurers to display details about any unclaimed money (above Rs 1,000) of policyholders on their website. The policyholder will need to enter his name and date of birth for the information. 10. RBI rule on infra bonds handicap countrys infrastructure hopes Reserve Bank of India (RBI) ban on Indian banks buying new issues of infrastructure bonds has handicapped Prime Minister Narendra Modis chances of gathering billions of dollars needed for mega-projects through the bond market. Elected in May, Modi has made heavy infrastructure investment and construction of affordable housing for all by 2022 key elements of a reform agenda aimed at getting countrys lumbering economy to grow a lot faster. Meeting the housing goal alone would need investment of at least $2 trillion, according to a KPMG report released last month. Faced with those funding needs, the government in mid-July encouraged banks to issue bonds to fund infrastructure by exempting these bonds from reserve requirements, in order to enable them to extend cheaper loans to the cash-starved sector. The trouble is the RBI issued guidelines a week later that barred banks from buying bonds issued by other banks in order to forestall risks arising from circular trading, whereby lenders agree to buy each others bonds. The RBI is hoping for greater investor participation by the likes of insurers, pension funds and mutual funds. But, analysts and bankers say the ban hampers secondary market liquidity and prevents the creation of a deeper market. Banks are traditionally the biggest buyers of debt, and without them the market for these bonds has become so illiquid that other investors are reluctant to buy. Banks are the market makers, the largest investors and underwriters of corporate bonds, said Shashikant Rathi, head of investments and capital markets at Axis Bank. If banks are not allowed to invest in these senior infrastructure bonds then other investors like mutual funds would be sceptical buying them since they wouldnt be sure of being able to sell them if liquidity need arises, he said. Given these constraints, few banks have made fresh issues, despite the incentives, and those that have, have received a lukewarm response. Analysts said the RBI would have to relax its ban if it wanted bond funding to raise anywhere near the 500-600 billion rupees ($8.3 billion to $9.9 billion) in infrastructure bonds that traders say can be raised in the year to March. Typically, banks in the country are the largest providers of loans to the infrastructure sector. Private or foreign investors have usually shied away due to bottlenecks such as complicated approval processes and red tape. MARKET MESSAGE Rowing back on guidelines issued so recently would be a test of how responsive the central bank has become to market needs. Long regarded as a staid institution, the RBI has been reinvigorated by Raghuram Rajan, the former International Monetary Funds chief economist, who was appointed governor a year ago. For evidence of the effect of its ban, the RBI can look at the mild response to the three infrastructure bond issues made since the guidelines were given. Between them, ICICI Bank , Kotak Mahindra Bank and Andhra Bank managed to raise just 49 billion rupees ($811 million). None could exercise their greenshoe options, or the extra amount that issuers sell if they see strong demand, as had been the case in previous debt sales in India. If banks were allowed to invest in senior bonds, we would have seen issuance three times more than what has already happened, said a debt capital markets banker at a domestic bank. The funds raised were also more expensive than expected, as investors demanded a premium because of the illiquid market. ICICI Bank, for example, sold 35 billion rupees of bonds this week at an annualised yield of 9.46 per cent. Although not a direct comparison, traders noted that similarly rated state-run Rural Electrification Corp is trading at a 9.35 per cent yield. An investor at a domestic institution explained the lack of enthusiasm for a bond that might otherwise have seemed attractive. We felt there would be demand as there is hardly any AAA paper available in the 10-year segment. But after buying we saw that there was no end-investor demand, so we havent bought any more, he said. Bankers said the RBI could ease the restrictions from an outright ban by limiting what percentage of a banks net capital could be invested in infrastructure bonds . Or it could allow banks to buy and trade bonds for a certain number of days in order to make a market and ensure liquidity. The RBI, however, shows little sign of budging. We are ready to give the market more time to develop, understand the product, said a senior RBI official. There will always be investors for such high-yield papers. 11. Banking on inclusion In launching the most ambitious plan ever to extend basic banking services across the country, the government is fulfilling a promise made by the Prime Minister in his Independence Day speech. The launch of the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana also marks the completion of 100 days in office by the NDA government. Many of the details of the scheme were made available in advance, but the official launch on Thursday was in itself historic. A record 1.5 crore accounts were opened on the day of the launch, and an upwardly revised target of opening 7.5 crore new accounts by January 26, 2015 looks achievable, given the high levels of enthusiasm seen on the opening day. There has been close coordination among the government, the States and the bankers, and it is hoped that this will continue in equal measure to ensure the success of the scheme. For the NDA government, there will be a large number of positive political and economic spin-offs from the successful implementation of the scheme. Apart from making available basic banking facilities to every household, it is designed to provide social security through insurance schemes, and in select cases, pension schemes. This will be no mean achievement, given the absence of even a rudimentary social security cover for a very large number of people. In due course, the government plans to route cash transfers in lieu of subsidies through these accounts. That would pave the way for a comprehensive reform of the subsidy regime for a number of essential commodities. The sheer size and complexity of the logistics involved in executing the gigantic inclusion plan will continue to amaze long after the initial glitches are ironed out. To be executed in two phases — the first will be for a year, while the second phase will be between 2015 and 2018 — the Jan Dhan Yojana plans to extend financial services in a country where only 58.7 per cent of an estimated 24.67 crore households have access to banking services. The scheme targets households rather than individuals, and uses technology extensively to further inclusion. Since opening physical bank branches on such a large scale is out of the question, the scheme will rely on a large number of business agents or correspondents for the last mile. It is therefore important to provide incentives to this category of intermediaries to ensure their total involvement. Experience with mandated inclusion programmes suggests that the new account-holders need to be kept engaged for sufficiently long periods. The RuPay smart card is probably an answer, as it will keep the account-holders connected with the banks. For the macroeconomy, the big benefit will be fewer physical cash transactions — a development that will aid in the implementation of official policies.
Posted on: Fri, 05 Sep 2014 08:54:58 +0000
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